Network Rail Consulting to work on multi-billion dollar project with Transport for NSW
Australian arm of Britain's Network Rail signs major contract with state transport body.
Lord Ian Livingston - UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment, The Hon Gladys Berejiklian - Minister for Transport, Nigel Ash - Managing Director Network Rail Consulting and Nick McInnes - British Consul General and Director General for UK Trade & Investment Australia & New Zealand.
UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Sydney, led by rail specialist Leah Gartner, has continued to assist Britain’s Network Rail Consulting (NRC) with expanding its operations in Australia, including its latest high-profile appointment with Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW).
NRC has been appointed as the Systems Integrator for the Advanced Train Control (ATC) project, which is expected to be worth more than $A2 billion (approx. £1.1 billion) and will be completed over the next five to ten years. The ATC project will see Sydney’s rail network fitted with new equipment to enable improved system performance and provide increased capacity for passenger and freight services.
NRC has been operating in Australia since September 2013, when it was awarded its first contract and has a core team of 10 specialists permanently based in New South Wales, led by Managing Director Nigel Ash and General Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Peter Koning. They have plans to double the team within 12 months. In April 2014 Philip Chalk was appointed as Director of Asset Management and Maintenance with a focus on developing the consultancy business in New Zealand.
Other major successes for NRC include:
- Acting as the Independent Safety Advisor for the $A8 billion North West Rail Link project;
- Benchmarking Sydney Trains maintenance activities with processes and procedures used by other major railways including Network Rail ($A0.8 million); and
- Wining a contract to develop and implement a gated framework to govern transport projects in New South Wales based on existing Network Rail practices ($A0.5 million)